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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Hebron Boater Killed in Kent Narrows Crash

KENT NARROWS, MD. - Rescue crews found the body of David Whitlow, 43, of Hebron, MD. right next to the concrete jetty in Kent Narrows.

Search and Rescue diver William Porter says by using sonar they were able to find the victim, but it was not easy. "The conditions were very tough in that the way the currents come around the jetty that was causing a lot of turbulence for our sonar," said Porter.

Police say around 11:15 p.m. last night the driver crashed the 20-foot boat into the unlit concrete jetty just beyond the Kent Island Yacht Club. Crews searched until 3 a.m. and resumed early this morning. They found Whitlow's body around noon today.

"We came back dressed up a diver, and made the dive and positively identified the victim," said Porter. John Jackson of Grasonville knows the concrete jetty well. He says at night it's tough to see.

"It's pretty opaque at night if you're not familiar with the area you should be going very slow and have a good view of what's in front of you if it's dark, in the day time it's no problem," said Jackson.

Carol Haskell of Grasonville has been boating for over 40 years. She says out on the water it's easy to become distracted. "Most of these people that have accidents like that are not paying attention in a lot of cases to hit a jetty," said Haskell.

The other three people onboard the boat are John Perry, 50 from Crownsville, MD and Brenda Werner, 47, from Riva, Md. both of which were transported to Shock Trauma and are in stable condition. The fourth occupant, John Bowlin, 49 from Linthicum, Md. was not transported.